Artwork
Untitled (Leaf, Hawaii)
Artist
Brett Weston
(American, 1911-1993)
DepartmentContemporary Art
Date1982
MediumGelatin silver print
Dimensions11 × 14 in. (27.9 × 35.6 cm)
Credit LineGift from the Christian Keesee Collection
Object number2017.24.23
Copyright© The Brett Weston Archive
GeographyPlace madeHawaii, United States
DescriptionView of the underside of a variegated leaf. The plant stem is above and left of center with veins radiating out. The surface of the leaf is light toned and monochromatic around the stem then, appears speckled with dark spots and sections closer the perimeter of the image.Label Text“It seems to me, that this powerful duality, this combination of the abstract, in the emphasis upon form, and the sense of presence, in the rendering of light and substance, is something only photography can do.”—Brett Weston
A leading figure of twentieth-century American photography, Brett Weston created a body of work that displays exceptional vision and technical skill. He began exploring the camera at the early age of thirteen, apprenticing with his father, the renowned modernist photographer Edward Weston, during an extended trip to Mexico in 1925. Along with Ansel Adams, Imogen Cunningham, the elder Weston, and others, Brett Weston was a founding member of Group f/64, a coalition of photographers in the San Francisco Bay Area who promoted straight photography—highly detailed and precise images that exploit the camera’s technical potential. Exemplary of this approach, Weston’s work is characterized by high contrast tones, an emphasis on form (often found in the natural world), and a virtuosic reliance on the innate capabilities of the camera, lens, film, and paper.
(Lana Meador, 2020)ProvenanceBrett Weston ArchiveNot on view
Collections
The San Antonio Museum of Art is in the process of digitizing its permanent collection. This electronic record was created from historic documentation that does not necessarily reflect SAMA's complete or current knowledge about the object. Review and updating of such records is ongoing.
This resource has been made possible in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities: Exploring the Human Endeavor.
